Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Classics Bingo 2020

The goal is to focus your reading on literary classics.

Read a classic that fits the description of a square. You may NOT count the same book twice for different categories in this challenge. Each book can be applied to only one square, even if it fulfills the requirements of multiple squares. All books read to mark off squares must be finished in 2020.

Challenge Levels

Level One Bingo
Four Corners: Mark off the four outside corners of the Bingo board.
OR
Five-in-a-Row: Mark off five squares in a row. This can be done horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Level Two Bingo
Small Box: Mark off all the 9 inner squares of the board (including the free square), leaving blank the 16 outside border squares.


Level Three Bingo
Outside Box: Mark off all 16 of the outer squares, leaving blank the 9 inner squares.


Level Four Bingo
Blackout! Mark off all the squares of the board.

Copy & Paste into your thread to help you keep track of your own progress

B1: Classic of Asia
B2: Classic Tragedy
B3: A Book Published at Least 200 Years Ago
B4: Memoir, Autobiography, or Biography
B5: Classic of Europe

I1: Classic Mystery or Crime
I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick
I3: Classic Drama or Play
I4: Book From Group’s 2020 Bookshelf
I5: Classic Gothic or Horror

N1: Book From Group’s Old School Classic Shelf prior to 2020
N2: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize
N3: Reader’s Choice
N4: Classic Short Story
N5: Book From Group’s New School Classic Shelf prior to 2020

G1: Classic Science Fiction or Fantasy
G2: The Bigger Read List by English Pen
G3: Poetry or Essay Collection
G4: Banned Book
G5: Classic Science or Philosophy

O1: Classic of Africa, Antarctica, Australia, or Oceania
O2: Classic Western
O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born
O4: Classic Adventure
O5: Classic of the Americas
 

Classic Bingo 2020
Clarifications & Suggestions: B

★B1: Classic of Asia
Read a classic that is either set in the given geographical region, or is written by an author native to that geographical region. Countries of the World
★B2: Classic Tragedy
Works that treat in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual.
★B3: A Book Published at Least 200 Years Ago
Published or written in 1820 or earlier
★B4: Memoir, Autobiography, or Biography
A true account of a person’s life
★B5: Classic of Europe
Read a classic that is either set in the given geographical region, or is written by an author native to that geographical region. Countries of the World

Classic Bingo 2020
Clarifications & Suggestions: I

★I1: Classic Mystery or Crime
Works dealing with the solution of a crime or the unraveling of secrets.
★I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick
You can either ask another Bingo Challenge Participant in the group to choose a book for you, or you can advertise on your thread for recommendations of books to read.
★I3: Classic Drama or Play
Literature that’s subject for compositions is dramatic art in the way it is represented. This genre is stories composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and action.
★I4: Book From Group’s 2020 Bookshelf
Group’s Bookshelf Sorted by Date
★I5: Classic Gothic or Horror
Horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by literature that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. Fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader. Gothic literature can be defined as writing that employs dark and picturesque scenery, startling and melodramatic narrative devices, and an overall atmosphere of exoticism, mystery, fear, and dread.

Classic Bingo 2020
Clarifications & Suggestions: N

★N1: Book From Group’s Old School Classic Shelf read prior to 2020
Read a book not from the current year's choices, but ones added before 2020.
Group’s Old School Classic Bookshelf Sorted by Title
★N2: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize
Read a book that was awarded a literary prize of a country/region other than where you live. Goodreads List of Literary Prizes
Wikipedia List of Literary Prizes
★N3: Reader’s Choice
Seriously, read any book that interests you.
★N4: Classic Short Story
Work of such briefness that is not able to support any subplots. Or use the group definition of “no more than 130 pages.”
★N5: Book From Group’s New School Classic Shelf read prior to 2020
Read a book not from the current year's choices, but ones added before 2020.
Group’s New School Classic Bookshelf Sorted by Title

Classic Bingo 2020
Clarifications & Suggestions: G

★G1: Classic Science Fiction or Fantasy
Science Fiction is a story based on impact of potential science, either actual or imagined. Science fiction is one of the genres of literature that is set in the future or on other planets.
Fantasy is the forming of mental images with strange or other worldly settings or characters; fiction which invites suspension of reality. This also includes folklore, mythology, and fairy tales.
★G2: The Bigger Read List by English Pen
The English PEN staff compiled a list of the best works not written in the English language. This list combines their list with the suggestions made by Fred Armentrout, President of Hong Kong (English-Speaking) PEN.
The Bigger Read List Alphabetically on English Pen
The Bigger Read List on Greatest Books Lists
★G3: Poetry or Essay Collection
Poetry is verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes an emotional response from the reader. The art of poetry is rhythmical in composition, written or spoken. This genre of literature is for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
Essays are a short literary composition that reflects the author’s outlook or point. A short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.
★G4: Banned Book
Wikipedia: List of books banned by governments
ALA: Frequently Challenged Books
Goodreads Banned Books Lists
List of Books Banned by Governments
★G5: Classic Science or Philosophy
Science is not restricted to scientific text books. It includes all books that increase our understanding of the natural world. This includes books on commerce and society, with the unifying theme being the use of evidence to explain events.
Philosophy teaches us to understand ourselves. It could very well be called the science of human life.In addition to the classic philosophical works, this category also includes the great religious texts.

Classic Bingo 2020
Clarifications & Suggestions: O

★O1: Classic of Africa, Antarctica, Australia, or Oceania
Read a classic that is either set in the given geographical region, or is written by an author native to that geographical region. Countries of the World
★O2: Classic Western
A genre set in the American West, usually in the period from the 1850s to the end of the 19th century. Though basically an American creation, the western had its counterparts in the gaucho literature of Argentina and in tales of the settlement of the Australian outback.
★O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born
You know what year you were born. If you don’t wish that information to be known, choose a book in the decade you were born (or if that is still too personal - go with the century).
★O4: Classic Adventure
Works that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement, such as world travel, difficult quests, voyages, etc. The stories are usually dominated by action; they involve danger, risk, and excitement.
★O5: Classic of the Americas
Read a classic that is either set in the given geographical region, or is written by an author native to that geographical region. Countries of the World

This Challenge Starts 1 January 2020, but the folder & discussion thread are open now so that you can begin to plan your year. Bingo can be planned ahead or you can just collect squares as you read throughout the year.

This challenge can be used with your other challenges. Books and authors selected here can be used to fill other challenge needs.

NOTE: Start your own thread for your challenge in this folder.

Happy Reading!

Reserved

Thanks for the early release, Katy! Planning these reads out will probably be what I'll be doing on my phone whenever I need a break from Black Friday.

This is always so exciting! I can't wait to start planning! :)

Thank you so much for putting this up early! I love the categories. :) I can't wait to see what other participants pick for me.

Awesome categories, Katy!!! So many of them were categories I was planning to read next year. I should have known I wouldn’t be able to sit out next year. Thank you for always making the Bingo Challenge an exciting adventure. Off to do my planning...

You are all welcome.

Really interesting list, but "O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born" can be offputting for people who want to keep some personal details anonymous. (Whereas decade might be more comfortable.)

If anyone else is interested in an Argentinian gaucho theme for the Western, there is a revised version of the NYU Press translation of classic epic The Gaucho Martín Fierro available free on the translator's website here. (Thanks to Paul here for the info.)

Really liking the PEN list. Would be happy if that took up five squares.

Antonomasia wrote: "Really interesting list, but "O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born" can be offputting for people who want to keep some personal details anonymous. (Whereas decade might be more comfortable.)"

I do not think it's a problem unless you publish your entire birth date.

I finished planning- the fun part. Thank you, Katy. This year’s challenge has categories that I never read - fantasy, horror, science, and has caused me to think outside the box. Good luck everyone :-)

Where you've got someone wondering "Is that who I think it is?" it's still the sort of information that can narrow things down substantially.

Antonomasia wrote: "Where you've got someone wondering "Is that who I think it is?" it's still the sort of information that can narrow things down substantially."

I guess this is where “29 and holding” might come in handy as a birth year. If my math is correct, 1991 might become a popular birthdate next year. 😁

Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "Antonomasia wrote: "Where you've got someone wondering "Is that who I think it is?" it's still the sort of information that can narrow things down substantially."

I guess this is where “29 and hol..."

Ha!. I had a period of time when I did not age. For some reason I did not want to be older than 35. None of the other birthdays had bothered me. I stayed 35 for quite a few years.

Katy, you have done it again. Thanks so much for all of your work on this, including all the details and suggestions. We all appreciate you getting this to us early.

On the birth year thing, I understand the concerns and am also one who keeps that kind of under wraps on this site. But you give us options (even century--ha!). I love Shirley's 29 and holding suggestion!

I'm giddy thinking of the hours of fun ahead ...

Katy wrote: "You know what year you were born, if you don’t wish that information to be known, choose a book in the decade you were born (or if that is still too personal - go with the century)."

Sorry, I just realised it was there all along in Katy's extra info about the categories. I didn't read all of them before! That's great you thought of this in advance.

THANK YOU for the new Bingo Challenge, Katy!

What do you think, would it be a good idea if you collected everybody's suggestions for the Group Bingo Participant Pick square in this thread? This way, everybody can suggest a few of their personal favourites and everybody has one central place to look up suggestions.

E.g.:
Group Bingo Participant Picks
Philina:Jane Eyre, North and South, Cranford, El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Jurassic Park
Katy: [book], [book]
...

Does anybody have a suggestion for an essay collection?
So far, I've always chosen poetry and have no clue about essays.

Virginia Woolf wrote essays-A Room of One's Own and The Common Reader are two that I have read.

George Orwell is one of the easiest-to-get-hold of choices for classic essays in English. There are plenty of selected volumes.

This year I read a Czesław Miłosz collection put together by Penguin UK but I wouldn't especially recommend it because it, weirdly, included two middle chapters of a memoir at the start, and a couple of the others are abstruse unless you have an interest in Catholic/Christian theology. Even the title (Proud to Be a Mammal) suggested they'd misread the essay in which he used the phrase.

Rosemarie wrote: "Virginia Woolf wrote essays-A Room of One's Own and The Common Reader are two that I have read."

There's also an Oxford Selected Essays if you want to be specific about a collection.

The Goodreads genre page for essays has lots of 21st-century books, but a few older authors there include Joan Didion, Montaigne, Susan Sontag, Walter Benjamin, James Baldwin (Though for Baldwin, in the UK at least, it's easy to find books containing individual long essays, like The Fire Next Time, whereas you don't see essay *collections* - those look like mostly US editions)

Philina wrote: "What do you think, would it be a good idea if you collected everybody's suggestions for the Group Bingo Participant Pick square in this thread? This wa..."

I think this is a good idea as, if people can pick from a long combined list, it reduces the pressure around having to suggest books that people will like / haven't read / have got time for etc - or feeling obliged to read those suggested in one's own thread.

Apologies for so many posts in succession.

Philina wrote: "Does anybody have a suggestion for an essay collection?
So far, I've always chosen poetry and have no clue about essays."

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

The Complete Essays by Michel de Montaigne (first use of the name "essay" from the French word essais, meaning "attempts" or "tests")

Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell

lists:
Best/Favorite Books of Essays https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
Personal Essays that Should be Read https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

or maybe: The Essays by Francis Bacon from 1597

Thank you all for your help on the essays!

I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick

Maybe a separate tread would be a good idea? Or a post collecting suggestions?

My suggestions: Personal favorites from our shelf:
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
Chess Story
Flowers for Algernon
The Raven and Other Poems
Dune
The Death of Ivan Ilych
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Lord of the Flies
Notes from the Underground
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Personal favorites classics not on our shelf:
On the Beach
The Forever War
Ender's Game
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
The Player of Games
The Silent World by Jacques-Yves Cousteau
The Martian (I am fairly sure this will be considered a classic in 20 years)
alphabet by Inger Christensen

J_BlueFlower wrote: "I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick

Maybe a separate tread would be a good idea? Or a post collecting suggestions?

My suggestions: Personal favorites form our shelf:
[book:Voices from Chernobyl: The..."

This is a good idea.

Antonomasia wrote: "Really interesting list, but "O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born" can be offputting for people who want to keep some personal details anonymous. (Whereas decade might be more comfortable.)"

Please note the clarification instructions for this square:
★O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born
You know what year you were born, if you don’t wish that information to be known, choose a book in the decade you were born (or if that is still too personal - go with the century).

J_BlueFlower wrote: "I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick..."

We were hoping that these would be a bit more personalized for the participants, so suggestions made on personal threads are more appropriate.

Katy wrote: "J_BlueFlower wrote: "I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick..."

We were hoping that these would be a bit more personalized for the participants, so suggestions made on personal threads are more appropri..."

Sounds fun! I will try that.

My tread is open now, if anyone would like to help with suggestions:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Is there any page length requirement for this challenge? e.g. Reading a book from the group's bookshelf - does the short story category count?

Janet wrote: "Is there any page length requirement for this challenge? e.g. Reading a book from the group's bookshelf - does the short story category count?"

Yes, those also count

Thank you Katy.

I have enjoyed this year's bingo challenge so am definitely joining in again for 2020. The prompts are even more fun this year! Thank you for creating it Katy.

You are welcome. I hope you all have fun!

Just wanted to add my thank you and congrats on a great list, Katy!

Sara wrote: "Just wanted to add my thank you and congrats on a great list, Katy!"

Thank you. Can't wait to see what you read.

Thank you Katy for putting this together! It looks great and very tempting :0)

Me too Katy! I know you put a good deal of thought and time into Bingo. Great job again!

You are welcome, I hope the challenge remains fun for you all year.

my favourite challenge. Thanks for running it.

I have a question I always wondered about:
Do all book choices have to be published by 1999 or before?
for example - the B4 - the autobiography